The echo of the pandemic and related bankruptcies of tour operators still “sounds” in Russian courts between tour operators, travel agents and tourists. So, there are still processes initiated by Russian tourists who sued because of the closure of Turkey. However, some clients have much more interesting claims.
The most interesting court cases were presented to TURPROM by legal experts from the company Lawyers for Tourist Business Baiborodin and Partners, who managed to participate in 32 courts in a week. So:
- In the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow, for example, the original “fresh” lawsuit is being dealt with – a tourist chose a tour in July of this year and chose a trip on a cruise ship. “The tourist found a shipping company that offered a cruise from Sochi to Turkey with visits to different cities. The route was listed as follows: Sochi-Trabzon-Sinop-Istanbul-Sochi. The man paid 355,000 rubles for such a tour,” the experts said. And the tourist made claims on the fact of changing the route: instead of the ancient city of Trabzon, which is located on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, they added the city of Cesme on the Aegean Sea. “According to the tourist, no one warned him about these changes. Due to serious circumstances, the tourist filed a lawsuit in court, where he demanded a refund of part of the cost of the tour – 150,000 rubles. The shipping company told its point of view: after booking the tour, the company turned to the direct cruise executor, the Turkish company Miraint Cruise, which issued a cruise ticket with a changed itinerary. According to the Russian operator, the tourist received a cruise ticket, but did not react to changes in the route,” the lawyers said. What the court decided will become known on 01/31/2023.
- And here is a typical example of a “covid” round and subsequent proceedings from the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow. In 2019, a tourist purchased a ticket for May 2020, with visits to the cities: Rome, Florence, Venice. “The voucher cost tourists 187,000 rubles. But the borders were closed due to the pandemic, which gave tourists a reason to go to court. They demanded to recover from the tour operator their money for a ticket, a penalty equal to the amount of the tour, compensation for moral damages of 50,000 rubles. The tourists also demanded reimbursement of legal expenses in the amount of 79,900 rubles. they hired a lawyer,” the experts said. As a result, the amount amounted to 375,000 rubles. “Our lawyer successfully defended the tour operator and, as a result, the tour operator only had to return the money for the tour, the court did not recover the rest of the money that the tourist was counting on,” added the specialists of the Baiborodin and Partners Lawyers for Tourist Business company.< /li>
- The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow is considering a case related to the last closure of Turkey “for covid”. Three tourists were not lucky – they purchased a tour to the Oz Hotel Side Premium 5 * hotel in Turkey, planning a vacation in April 2021, but just at that time Turkey was closed. “Tourists wanted to rebook, but thought it was better to get their money back. To do this, they made a claim and sent it to the agency and the tour operator, confusing one with the other. The tour operator returned the money, but the tourists desired more and went to court, demanding compensation for the penalty and a fine of 84,000 rubles,” the experts said. At the same time, according to them, “at the first meeting, the tourists showed intemperance and rudeness, it even came to rudeness towards the judge,” as a result, the court session was postponed. “At the second trial, which the plaintiff almost missed because he could be taken to serve in the army, the court ruled to dismiss the tourist’s claim,” the lawyers added.
- The experts also had to recall the bankruptcy of the tour operator Mouzenidis. Experts assure that there are many lawsuits against this company – and here is one living example. “In January 2020, an agreement was concluded between a tourist and a travel agent, according to which tourists had to go to the island of Crete to the ERI BEACH HOTEL 4 *. The tour package included all-inclusive accommodation, transfer, insurance and air tickets. The cost of the tour is 308,000 rubles. The tour operator Mouzenidis Travel was listed as the contractor and host in Greece,” the lawyers said. As a result, a month before the trip, the tour operator canceled the flight and it was proposed to reschedule the tour to the same dates a year later, but in 2021 the situation repeated itself. “The tourist went to court and demanded that the tour operator and agent collect money for the ticket, interest on the use of money, as well as a penalty. At the court session, it became clear that the judge was too far from the tourism industry, our lawyer took up the clarification of everything. As a result, the court took into account the defense side of Baiborodin and Partners and made a decision: to recover the amount of the tour from the tour operator. Other requirements were not met,” the lawyers said.
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